A Study On The Washback Effects Of The Junior Secondary English Achievement Graduation Test Of Zhangjiajie Prefecture

This thesis aims to investigate the washback of Zhang Jiajie Junior Secondary English Achievement Graduation Test(JSEAGT).Washback effect usually refers to the impact of examinations on teachers and students as well as on teaching and learning.JSEAGT is one of the standardized tests of foreign languages in Zhang Jiajie.The study aims at exploring the attitudes of English teachers and students towards Zhang Jiajie JSEAGT,and the influence of Zhangjiajie JSEAGT on the process and results of junior English teaching and learning.Based on the Alderson and Wall's washback hypothesis and Hughes trichotomy,such research methods as questionnaires,interviews and classroom observations are adopted to investigate three questions:(1)what is the influence of Zhangjiajie JSEAGT on the attitudes of junior English teaching and learning?(2)What is the influence of Zhangjiajie JSEAGT on the process of junior English teaching and learning?(3)What is the influence of Zhangjiajie JSEAGT on the results of junior English teaching and learning?The research subjects include 33 teachers from junior middle schools in different regions of Zhang Jiajie participate in the survey.Among them,10 teachers participated in the interview and 7 teachers participated in the classroom observation.As for the students,there are 182 students from Grade 9 from different districts of Zhang Jiajie who participate in the questionnaire.Among them,10 students are interviewed.According to the data analysis,the major results are as follows:(1)the English test has an influence on the attitudes of the English teaching in junior middle schools,including the teaching idea of teachers and the motivation of students.(2)The JSEAGT has an impact on the process of teaching and learning,including the teachers' teaching methods,content,and the selection of materials,the students' learning strategies and the choice of learning materials,etc.(3)About results,both positive and negative effects have been found.The positive washback effects are:(1)students will learn English much harder under the incentive of the examination.(2)As an objective and standard test,the JSEAGT is an effective way to test the English level of students in junior high school.(3)The test preparation will help students to lay a solid foundation in the English learning.The negative effects of English test are:(1)it caused psychological pressures to students' English learning and teachers'English teaching,which make students study for the exams and teachers teach for the exams.(2)The cultivation of language communicative ability is ignored.In general,the positive washback effect is greater than the negative.At the same time,the negative washback effect of English test can not be ignored.Because of this,the English oral test should be paid more attention to.This not only can improve teachers' comprehensive quality,but also can develop students' language ability.